Strike at Midnight(52)

“Since it arrived about an hour ago.”

“Great,” I said as I scrunched up my nose. I really wasn’t in the mood for this. “Thanks for the drink and the lecture.”

He took the glass from me then ruffled my hair up with his other hand. “Someone has to look out for you.”

“Yeah,” I said, and I moved off to go upstairs, but before I walked through the door, I shouted back to him. “Marcel?”

“Yep.”

“Thanks for everything,” I said, and I even managed to give him a smile. “And for carrying me upstairs again last night. I appreciate it.”

“Oh, I didn’t carry you,” he said, and I stopped in my tracks to look back at him.

“What?” I asked, and my head paused before going into total freak-out mode. “What do you mean, you didn’t carry me? I woke up in my bed this morning.”

“Yeah,” he said with a big grin on his face. “But it wasn’t me.”

“Then who was it?” I asked through gritted teeth. I didn’t realize I was stepping closer to him as I did so. He took a step back even though there was a bar between us.

“Who do you think?” he asked, and he looked like he was going to piss himself with laughter.

“No,” I said, hoping he was pulling my leg on this one. “No way.”

“The prince was very adamant about doing the chivalrous thing in carrying you up. How could I say no?”

“I should kill you,” I said, but it came out more like a hiss. I was seething, and internally weeping. I hadn’t had the chance to tidy up my room, and now a prince had been in it. Oh ground, please swallow me up now.

Marcel put his hands up in surrender. “I couldn’t say no to a prince. It’s not allowed.”

“What’s the delay?” Melody asked as she peeked back around the door. “Come on.”

“After I kill Marcel,” I said, but I may have growled it.

“Ooh,” she said, coming fully into the bar. “Goody, but can you do it in five minutes? Come and open this damn parcel.”

It was time to round on her. My so-called best friend. How could she have let this happen?

“The Prince carried me upstairs last night?” I asked, and she waved her hand in front of her face as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, grabbing my hand to drag me up the stairs. I could hear Marcel chuckling from behind us. “I led him up with a candle, and I made sure the candle stayed ahead of me. He never saw the state of your room.”

The relief I felt almost made me sag to the floor as I followed her into my bedroom. Not that I was bothered about what he thought of me. Not one bit.

“Thank you so much,” I said, and she let my arm go as she started to jump up and down beside my bed.

“Open it, open it, open it!” she said, and I felt my eyes roll. Melody had a thing for presents. You should see her at Yule.

“Fine,” I said, gently pushing her out of the way so I could attack the brown parcel that had been left on my bed. It was a large package in both height and width, and I had no patience for it. I just wanted my bed.

“Oh, hurry up,” she said as she helped me peel away the paper. We both rummaged through the packaging, and she was the first one to snatch up the parchment that had been placed on top of some form of silk cloth. “Oh my,” was all she said, and I snatched the note from her. Oh my indeed.





To my Dearest Cinderella,

Please, may I ask that you do not take offense at such forwardness on my part, but I would like to address the predicament of you having to acquire gowns at such short notice for the upcoming event.

There is no expectation of my gift, and I will not be offended if you choose not to wear them. I only wanted to provide you with a solution as a thank you for saving my life. It does not even begin to come close as a form of repayment, but I hope it is a start.

The two day gowns are my mother’s, and I have had them altered slightly to fit your frame. My father has given permission for me to send them to you, and they have been cleaned and aired if you would like to make use of them. I did, however, have the Royal Dressmakers produce a new evening gown for you, and they have used my descriptions of you to ensure it fits as well as possible.

It may be very presumptuous of me to present you with such a gift, but I do hope it comes across as an aid to you and not an insult.

I sincerely look forward to seeing you this Friday, and my father is very excited to meet you.

One last thing, I told the dressmaker to theme your ball gown around your glass slippers. I hope you do not mind.





Yours Truly,

Prince Andrew, Kingdom of Carena





“He’s good,” Melody said as she finished reading the note over my shoulder. “You have to give him that.”

The parchment fluttered as I whisked it out of her view, and I took a few subtle breaths to stop any evidence appearing of me being flattered by such a gift.

It was an insult. That’s exactly how I had to take it. But then the thought of him sending his mother’s gowns…

“I don’t want his charity,” I said, and I knew I was pouting as the unwanted emotion welled up inside of me. But damn the man for trying to shoehorn his way into this investigation and into my life. He didn’t fit there, and I needed to tell him exactly that when we arrived at the castle.